A facebook friend recommended a movie, and while I have never actually met her, based on her posts and blogs that she has written, I had a feeling if she liked it, I would too.
Besides...with the hubby working nights, I am left with so much alone time, I am always looking for a good movie as a distraction.
The movie is I Am directed by Tom Shadyac. It is only an hour and seventeen minutes. And it is filled with really interesting scientific facts--that span everywhere from how yogurt reacts to our emotions to the effects our collective emotions can have on a random number generator.
It is a documentary. After a cycling accident left the famous director...I had never heard his name but you have definitely heard of his movies...Ace Ventura, Patch Adams, The Nutty Professor....anyway....he was left with a concussion that wouldn't heal. It prompted him to want to ask the world's greatest thinkers "What is wrong with the world?" and "What can we do to fix it?".
Me, being the overthinker that I am....let me stop here and point out that I find this to be one of my worst mental issues, don't think I mean this as "I think more than you, so nah nah I am smarter"...overthinking is not that, it is just the inability of my brain to not cycle through every scenario in the most mundane of life events, blowing the tiniest thing way out of proportion to it's actual meaning.
Anyway...I heard the question and immediately started answering it to myself....nearly missing the movie, as I had to reel myself in and shut up my thoughts not to miss any interesting bits! As the movie progressed I patted myself on the back because it was exactly where his answer was headed...we are all self centered and care about ourselves more than others. Should I have said "SPOILER ALERT"? Probably not since it's a documentary...the answer isn't nearly as important as the evidence.
The funny thing is..I was right, but wrong....but even more right because I was wrong....WHAT?!?!?
Follow with me...while watching I remember thinking "I love this movie but I don't get the title, he would have reached more people with a better title" I got the whole way through the movie not getting it....until he blasted me in the faee with it at the end..."What is wrong with the world?"...."I am"....so you see...I was right...being self centered is part of what's wrong with the world....but I was sooooo self centered believing I wasn't included in the problem, because I have gotten to the place where he is...realizing that life is so much more than how much stuff I can acquire or "making it" by someone else's definition.....so by thinking about me (ie being self centered) I missed the obviousness of the answer I AM and thus proving I am in fact still a part of the problem, we just can't stop making it all about us. Not sure I explained that well but you are smart you get what I mean...
I'm not sure if he comes out and actually says that self centeredness is the problem, but it is definitely involved as I see it...Competitiveness is about me...what can I get for me....
He focuses a lot on how competitive our society is...and how that has spread throughout the whole world. And how we approve of competitiveness and have lost some of our cooperativeness...and how we have twisted Darwin's words to fit with that philosophy...I'm not going to tell you the whole movie...watch it to see how he does that.
He doesn't just talk the talk...he follows through. He sells his 17000 sq ft Beverly Hills mansion, he stops traveling on private planes. He doesn't say what he does do with all of his money now, but he has realized this quest for stuff was insatiable and did not bring happiness. (On a side note...Rick Springfield (you know, MY idol!) also has this revelation when he has everything he ever wanted, fame, money, a beautiful wife and yet is still depressed).
Some people say that a big problem in our society is the way the media and Hollywood place so much emphasis on body image and I agree, but the underlying problem is that we teach our children that success is about "making it big"and not for yourself, but because of what others will think of you (see? same as your body image...it isn't about being healthy, but looking good FOR OTHERS!)...big being defined by what career you end up ....and not how noble it is, but how much you earn....it is defined by what you can get...you have to not just be a homeowner but have a big home...how nice is your car..have you travelled the world....why can't we be impressed by people who help the world? Why do teachers and firemen and cops make less than CEO's of banks or retail companies? Why are our priorities so fucked up??
The kind of funny thing is...I watched a Russell Brand stand up show the other night (The Messiah Complex) and his show aligns perfectly with this message in this documentary...how crazy is that? A foul mouthed, recovered Heroin addict gets it...and is spreading the same message...he points out that our culture values celebrities as our people to look up to and then he goes on to talk about who he looks up to. In an educational, intelligent and hysterical way he discusses Gandhi, Che Guevara and Malcolm X...with a bit on Jesus Christ and homosexuality. It isn't often you can watch a foul mouth comedy show that mentions the word cunt more times than I can count, talks about fucking your cat and end up with more knowledge than you went in with and a hope that some people watching get his message and talk about it, spreading it to help others see how silly it is to idolize celebrities.
But I digressed again, didn't I?
Hopefully I have left you with the desire to see not one but two shows that will get you thinking about your role in what is wrong with the world...and maybe if enough people get the message...some day in the far distant future the world will be a better place....for now I am going to just keep doing my little part...and that is trying to help people find their path to happiness, by letting go of the need to have stuff!
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